


The Sweet Side

by liamandco



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Desi!Zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-29
Updated: 2013-09-29
Packaged: 2017-12-27 22:45:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/984498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liamandco/pseuds/liamandco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn wants to express and share more aspects of his culture--especially the food. Who better to share that with than Liam?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sweet Side

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my lovely friend Simi, who needed some Zayn x jalebis x ship fic in her life.
> 
> Also I'm miserable at ending fics just excuse this

_That was shittiest fucking thing I’ve ever heard._

Zayn couldn’t believe how miserably their first go at singing their new song live had gone. Everyone was pitchy. They were off beat. Hell, he couldn’t even hear himself during his last solo—that high note he worked so goddamn hard to perfect, only to have it fall completely flat live. 

_Fuck this, I’ve got to get some comfort food in me._

Zayn had heard San Jose had a big Desi population, so he wasted no time looking up the nearest sweets and snacks shop. He recruited one of the bus drivers to drive him into town and over to the shop. 

"I’ll just be a minute, yeah? Just park ‘round back," he muttered quickly to the driver.

He rushed into the shop before anyone would’ve had the chance to notice him or hound him for a photo or autograph. The moment he stepped into the shop, he felt as though he’d walked through the gates of heaven.

Every sweet, every savory Desi snack he’d ever eaten back home was there in front of him.

 _God, I just want EVERYTHING_. 

 

It was so overwhelming, seeing all these treats around him. He was literally a kid in a candy store. But eventually his eyes fell on the one treat he’d been craving for ages. 

He rushed up to the counter and excitedly blathered “Can I have a half pound of jalebis, please?” 

The small, wrinkled man behind the counter gave him a quizzical look, but then slowly broke into a warm smile. “You’re Zayn Malik, na? The singer? Must have been a long time since you’ve had some good Desi khaana.” 

It felt good to hear those familiar words. It was just like being back in Bradford.

Zayn offered the man a sheepish grin and muttered, “yeah, it really has been. I’ve been dying to get some sweets for months now.”

The man handed Zayn the box of jalebis and said, “then you’ve come to the right place, beta.” 

Zayn pulled out his wallet, but before he had the chance to ask how much he was to pay, the man quickly said “No no no no! No charge! Not for you, Zayn beta. You’ve made all of us so proud. You’ve done more than enough—the least we can do is give you some mitthai, na?”

Zayn didn’t know what to say. It always took him by surprise when people told him that they were proud of him just for being a South Asian musician. It always amazed him just how much his very existence meant to people. 

"Thanks so much, uncle. I’m sure they’re delicious," he said, the words fumbling out of his mouth. 

"It’s nothing, beta. Have a good night, na? Good luck with all your concerts and may god bless you," the man said.

Zayn offered him one last smile, and waved goodbye as he rushed out to the car.

"Did you find what you needed there, Zayn?" the driver asked.

Clutching his box of jalebis, Zayn replied, “Yeah. Yeah I did.”

_***_

A few moments later, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. It was a text from Liam.

_"I still feel like utter shit, Zayn. I can’t believe how badly BSE went tonight. Fucking upset with myself. I’ve never fucked up so badly before."_

Zayn sighed. He hated how hard Liam always got on himself for the smallest things. He always felt the need to take responsibility for anything that went wrong during their performance, being the perfectionist he was. It was one of the things that, oddly enough, always drew Zayn closer to him. Just the fact that he always cared so much, always had such passion for everything he did. Zayn loved that. He needed that in his life. 

“ _Don’t beat yourself, Liam. Yea, it was bad, but it could’ve been way worse. We’ll get it right next time x_ " 

He didn’t really believe the words he was saying because he was smart enough to know that it would probably take several more attempts for them to get the song just the way they wanted it, but he knew that Liam needed to hear that. And maybe the more he said it, the more he would believe it. 

His phone vibrated again a few moments later.

_"I know I’m probably just overreacting. It’s just….fuck we worked so hard recording that thing and all the time we spent on the video and to have it just blow up in our fucking faces the way it did tonight…I think I just need to chill out"_

_  
_Zayn couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. Typical Liam. Worrying, worrying, and worrying some more about something that would definitely get better with time and a bit of practice. It’s like they were back on The X Factor all over again.

_"All right here’s an idea… why don’t u go clear ur mind and take a shower. I’ve just picked something up that’ll make us both feel better, I promise you’ll love it. xx"_

Zayn had always wanted to share more of his culture with the boys, Liam especially, but rarely got opportunities to because of their crazy schedule. Why not take advantage of the bit of time he’d gotten now?

His phone buzzed again a few seconds later

_"Sounds like a good plan. You’d better not be fucking with me about this surprise pick-me-up though!"_

Zayn let out an amused sigh.  _This boy literally NEVER stops worrying_

_"Oh just go shower already !! I’ll see u in a few babe xx"_

_  
_A few minutes later, Zayn had finally made it back to the hotel with his coveted treats and, surprisingly, had managed to stay out of sight from stalker fans. After some smooth talking (and jalebi bribery), he’d managed to secure an extra key to Liam’s room so he could make good on his promise.

Making sure to check that no one else was around (after all, he didn’t need any of the other boys trying to stuff their faces full of these precious jalebis that he’d gotten specifically for himself and Liam), he let himself into Liam’s room and softly let the door close behind him. He heard the shower still running, and didn’t feel the need to hurry Liam along. 

"Is that you, Zayn?" Liam called out from the bathroom.

Startled, Zayn squeaked out “Ye-yeah! Yeah it’s me! No need to rush though, just take your time!” 

"I’ll be out in a just a sec, make yourself at home! I don’t think the place is too messy, right?" 

Zayn surveyed the hotel room. Sweatpants and snapbacks were strewn everywhere, with the recent added collection of godawful bandanas that Liam had been trading back and forth with Harry.

_"The clean one" my arse_

"Ha, yeah it’s just great, Liam." 

Zayn pushed aside a pile of clothes on the bed and plopped himself down, setting the box of jalebis at his side. 

The oil and glaze were beginning to seep through the thin box, and the sweet scent left Zayn salivating.

_Oh hurry up already, Liam. I’m about to eat these without you._

Before he could finish his thought, Liam emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, his long toned chest still slick with water. He took a towel to his hair and dried it furiously, his muscles flexing almost obnoxiously. He finally took the towel from his head and ruffled his fingers through his hair, letting a few strands fall onto his forehead. 

Now Zayn was salivating for a completely different reason.

"W-w-ell. Took you long enough!" he blurted out, hoping he sounded much smoother than he did in his head. 

Liam chuckled and made his way over to the bed and sat beside Zayn. 

"Well geez, I was just taking your expert advice wasn’t it? Clearin’ my head in the shower?" he replied smugly. 

He didn’t know why, but Zayn was finding it really hard to form words around Liam tonight. It’s not as if he hadn’t been around him in similar situations before. Perhaps it was because this time, he was prepared to introduce Liam to a more personal part of his life, however trivial it might have been. It also wasn’t helping that Liam was looking particularly handsome tonight, with his wonderfully tanned body and facial hair perfectly lining his jaw and plump, tender lips. It was taking everything Zayn had to keep himself from throwing himself at Liam. 

"So what’s this surprise you’ve got? I swear, Zayn, it’d better be good. You know the kind of shit night I’ve—well, we’ve ALL been having," Liam nudging Zayn. 

Zayn had almost forgotten his purpose of even coming to Liam’s room. 

"Oh, yeah! Okay so, I want to share something with you, and it’s really special and important to me," Zayn said.

Liam raised one eyebrow. “Really? Do I get to guess what it is?” 

_You really want to play this game with me right now?_

Zayn laughed and said, “You can try, but you’re not going to get it right, I assure you.” 

"Then can you give me clues? Come on please?" Liam said, pouting.

_Oh god, not the pouty face  
_

"Fine, fine. Okay um, it’s sweet." 

"Is it a bunch of our tour merch with your face on it?" 

Zayn melted. It completely baffled him how an uptight perfectionist like Liam was also capable of being such a little shit. 

"Ha ha, very funny. Okay no more guessing, I’m being serious now. I want to just tell you, yeah?"

Liam straightened himself up and wiped the dopey grin from his puppy dog face. “Okay. Serious time. Go ahead, quiffy.” 

Zayn felt a huge smile creeping across his face at the sound of that pet name. _Quiffy. You haven’t called me that in ages._

Shaking off his momentary giddiness, he pulled out the box of jalebis from beside him and laid it on his lap.

"I know you’re always saying how you’d love to get to know more about where I come from and the types of food we eat an all that, so tonight I’m going to share that with you."

He opened the box and held up between himself and Liam. 

A sweet aroma filled the air around them, and Zayn focused on Liam’s eyes as they widened, intrigued by the sight of the glazed, orange-colored sweets in front of him.

"They’re called jalebis," Zayn said softly. "They’re one of my favorite Desi sweets. We’d get them every year for special occasions like Eid." 

Liam said nothing as he examined the coil-shaped sweets. Zayn just watched him quietly, relishing the fact that Liam looked like a baby that was discovering something seemingly mundane for the very first time, his face filled with wonder and excitement.

"Well go on then, try one!" Zayn urged, softly. 

Liam carefully picked up one jalebi between his forefinger and thumb, holding it out in front of him to examine further.

"It’s so…..shiny. And how do they get it into that shape?" 

"Liam it’s not a bloody new animal species, it’s just food. Eat it, already!" Zayn said, feigning irritation. 

"All right, all right," Liam chuckled as he brought the sweet to his mouth. He took a large bite and suddenly dropped the remainder of the jalebi on himself, trailing a bit of syrup on his chest and landing on his lap.

Zayn let out a hearty laugh. “What the hell was that?” 

Liam flailed his hands around while chewing on the sweet before answering, “I didn’t know it was going to be crispy and have that syrup inside of it! I got taken off guard okay don’t laugh!” 

But Zayn couldn’t keep his laughter at bay. It was just too ridiculous and adorable all at once. Who’d ever heard of a person legitimately freaking out because they weren’t expecting a piece of food to be crunchy? 

"Oh fuck and I’ve gotten it all over myself now! Shit I’m sticky everywhere and I just took a shower!" Liam continued to babble ridiculously 

"Oh calm down you big prat, I’ll get you cleaned up just stay there and don’t touch more things. I don’t reckon Harry will appreciate you mucking up that precious new bandana of his. Just….sit there and finish your jalebi," Zayn said as he went to fetch a damp washcloth from the bathroom. 

He returned back to Liam and began wiping off the syrup from Liam’s chin and chest. It was still completely baffling to him how eating a simple sweet could have gone so hilariously badly. Of course that could only happen to Liam Payne, but hey, Zayn wasn’t complaining. 

"Christ, I’m such a fucking mess," Liam mumbled before breaking out into a fit of laughter. "Honestly, who the hell else could make this big of an arse of themselves just EATING something?"

Zayn chuckled warmly before wiping the last bit of syrup off of Liam’s chin. “But…did you like it?” He asked nervously, his eyes avoiding meeting Liam’s.

Liam maneuvered his head around so that his eyes could meet Zayn’s, and he pulled Zayn down to sit next to him again.

"It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I can tell why you love them so much." 

Zayn let out an involuntary sigh of relief. It felt good to share a little more of himself with Liam, and have him actually appreciate it. 

"I’m really glad. I haven’t really shared that with anyone outside of my family and friends from back home. It’s a little hard for me to be as open about this stuff now, y’know?" 

"Well then," Liam began, straightening himself up, "it’s time for you to have yourself a jaloobi isn’t it?" 

Zayn burst out laughing. “It’s called a JA-LE-BI you idiot!” 

Liam grabbed a jalebi from the box and shoved it into Zayn’s mouth. Startled, Zayn returned the favor by reaching for another jalebi and tackling him down on the bed. They both erupted into a fit of laughter before finally calming themselves down, chomping away at the last pieces of the special sweet. 

Liam turned over on his stomach and brought his face close to Zayn’s and softly mumbled, “These still aren’t the sweetest thing in this room,” as he leaned down and placed a soft, warm kiss on Zayn’s lips.


End file.
